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Pereira Appointed As New Head Coach of Men's Soccer Program

He is no stranger to the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference. On Monday CMU Athletics announced Anderson Pereira as the new head coach of the Men's Soccer program, succeeding Athletics Director Russell Willms who recently stepped down from his coaching position.

While a student athlete, Pereira laced up his boots for the Red River Rebels, captaining the program in each of his three years as a player and leading his team to their first-ever Championship in Men's Futsal in 2017 where he was named Most Valuable Player. Pereira moved into the coaching ranks in September 2017 as an assistant coach with the Rebels program and as the native of Santa Vitoria do Palmar, Brazil became more rooted in the Winnipeg soccer community, he found many club coaches reaching out to him for his ability to positively influence their youth players in technical and tactical elements of the game.

In 2016, Pereira assisted youth sessions with the St. Charles Force and this continued into 2017 with the Bonivital Soccer Club. "When you get to know Anderson, you quickly get a sense of his passion and understanding of the game," said Willms. "Anderson can state very clearly the way he likes the game to be played. During his playing career he has been mentored by many elite coaches who have impressed upon him a passion for training and playing. He knows what makes a session both enjoyable and effective. I think he will do great things here with our program."

Willms and Pereira most recently joined forces with Winnipeg Rovers Futsal Club who after winning in the inaugural MSA Futsal Cup, represented Manitoba at the 2018 Futsal Canadian Championship in Kingston, Ontario. Pereira was the driving force behind the club, from recruiting the roster, to performing administrative duties with Canada Soccer, to finding a head coach.

"I myself, was actually recruited by Anderson to head coach the Rovers team at Futsal Nationals. This was the first time that I became familar with Anderson as more than a soccer and futsal player. I experienced him daily as a person, teammate and leader," said Willms, "I was also able to see the passion he has to make something happen. I feel very positive about the experience he will give our players and I look forward to seeing Anderson takes this next step in his coaching career."

Pereira's pathway as a player began in his native Brazil where he played as a youth with Grêmio Esportivo Brasil from the u10 to u17. Locally, Pereira has been competing with CSSE Juventus in the province's top division since 2015.

Joining Pereira on his migration from Red River College are former Rebels teammates Cesar Carvalho and Paulo Nonnenmacher (Strength & Conditioning). The three will make up the 2018 Men's Soccer coaching staff.

September 9th will be the day that Pereira will make his head coaching debut, when the Blazers kickoff their 2018 MCAC campaign at the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex against the defending MCAC Champions, USB Rouges. Match time is scheduled for 7:15 pm.

Coach Pereira can be contacted about the CMU Men's Soccer program by email at apereira:@:cmu.ca

 

 

 

 

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